From Hell Redeemed
by Mojave Dragonfly
Summary: An AU version of the movie From Hell. Six months after the Ripper murders end unsolved - at least as far as the public knows - Abberline tries to catch a copycat murderer. This story is not yet finished.
1. Default Chapter

Opening sequence: _Abberline's__ hands prepare absinthe and opium. We see the opium pipe smoke and Abberline's eyes open, fading into the rooftops of __London_

Script onscreen: London 1888

_The camera pans down from the rooftops, through many scenes of __London__ life, looking in windows and doors. Reporter Robert Best, at the Times, hands an editor his story. Closer to Whitechapel, a family argues inside an apartment. On the street, vendors hawk their wares. Inside the Whitechapel district, in an alley, a prostitute services a client against a fence. Sgt. Peter Godley closes the door on a police wagon full of derelicts, which rumbles away. The camera lowers, beneath the street, showing the basement of the Times, where rows of typesetters press out newspaper pages. Moving through black to another basement, we see a circle of Masons holding a ritual. Again moving through black we come to an opium den and the camera approaches Inspector Frederick Abberline who is lying on a couch._

Abberline's first vision: _Abberline__ sees a __London street__, and a woman in a green dress, walking. She is pulled into shadow by a hidden assailant and a bloody knife slashes her throat from behind. The scene shifts to her body, cut up horribly, her flowered petticoats saturated with blood. The vision shifts to showing a newspaper headling "The Ripper Returns!"_

_--_

Sir Charles Warren's office. 

_Warren__ is at his desk when Godley looks in.  
_Godley: Sir? I thought you'd want to see this.  
_Warren__ gestures him in. Godley lays a medical report on his desk.  
_Warren: Another one.  
Godley: Yes sir. Cut up like the other. A lot like the others before, if I may say so.  
_Warren__ stands and looks out the window_.  
Warren: Find Inspector Abberline and tell him I want him.  
Godley: _(surprised) Sir_? The inspector … he's not in today.  
Warren: I know he's not in, Sgt. Godley. I said to find him.  
Godley: Yes, sir.  
--

On the street outside Scotland Yard

_Officer1, Officer2 and Godley walking.__ Robert Best and photographer cross the street heading for the police station._  
Officer1: The press will see it, too. "Jack is back!"  
Godley: Now don't go starting any rumors, yourself. We don't know that. Let's find the inspector.  
Officer2: He didn't catch the Ripper before. I can't think why the Commissioner wants him now.  
Godley: Watch yourself.  
Officer2: I'm just saying …  
Godley: I know what you're saying. Don't say it.  
Officer1: _(holding a piece of paper)_ Here's his address.  
Godley: _(shaking his head)_ He won't be home.

--  
Opium Den

_We see the denizens of the den: naked and semi-naked women, men in a dream-like state, all moving slowly if at all. The doors burst open and Godley enters, followed by Officers 1 and 2. Godley approaches the proprietor, a Chinese man wearing traditional Chinese dress._  
Proprietor: I paid! I already paid!  
_Godley squeezes the man's nose.  
_Godley: Relax, Emperor, I'm not here for you. Where is he?  
_Proprietor indicates the couches full of opium smokers.  
_Godley: Move it!  
_Godley and Officers approach Abberline, who is lying on a couch.  
_Godley: Get up!  
_Abberline__ does not respond. Godley backhands him. Officers look astonished.  
_Abberline: Hello, Darling.  
Godley: Get up!  
_Godley hauls Abberline to his feet. He and the officers assist Abberline out.  
_---

Abberline's Office

_Godley and Officers 1 and 2 watch as Abberline soaks his face in a washbasin.__ Abberline raises his head.  
_Abberline: Sergeant.  
_Godley throws him a towel. He uses it.  
_Abberline: Fuck, it's night.  
Godley: Well spotted, Inspector Abberline. Indeed it is night. Genius has returned to us.  
_(to officers)_ Thank you gentlemen, and remember if you ever want to escape the dreary confines of your present duties, this never happened. Cat along, now.  
_The officers leave.  
_Godley: Commissioner wants to see you. Can you walk?  
_Abberline__ nods and stands.  
_---

Warren's Office.

_Warren__ is at his desk. A still dazed Abberline sits before the desk. Godley stands behind Abberline.  
_Warren: Inspector, I'm assigning you to this Whitechapel murder. I am confident that you can do as good a job as you did before. _(looks uncomfortable)_ Or better.  
_Warren__ waits for Abberline to say something.  
_Warren: Do you understand me, Inspector? I expect you to be on the job and to not disgrace the force.  
Abberline: Yes, sir.  
Warren: Sgt. Godley, you will assist him.  
Godley: My pleasure sir.  
Warren: Good. Now … please leave us.  
Godley: _(confused) Uh_, yes sir.  
_Godley leaves the office, giving Abberline a worried glance as he goes.  
_Warren: Inspector, you know why you are still on the force.  
Abberline: You're buying my silence.  
Warren: You owe your silence to the Empire. As do I.  
Abberline: The Prince is dead, now.  
Warren: The Crown continues, and we will not sully the Crown. There are socialists enough swarming our shores, trying to undercut the monarchy. This is no time for a scandal such as … (_he searches for how to phrase it_)  
Abberline: The brutal murder and butchery of London "unfortunates."  
Warren: _(irritated)_ Enough. We said we would never speak of this again. No, you are still on the force because you have a brilliant investigative mind and intuition. If you choose to pollute it with your decadent habits, you can still be let go. Then, any story you might tell the press can be easily discredited. When I want you on the job, you are on the job. Is that clear?  
Abberline: Inescapably clear. What's the job? Someone is pretending to be Jack the Ripper?  
Warren: Once the press reports that Jack is back, we can expect hysteria again. This isn't the Ripper, Inspector; you and I both know it. Find this imitator and stop him before he decides to continue his masquerade by killing again. _(uncertainly)_ I have complete confidence in you.  
----  
Abberline's Office

_Abberline__ sits at his desk. Godley stands beside it. Both Abberline and Godley light cigarettes.  
_Abberline: Have I lost a day? Is it still Thursday?  
Godley: Indeed it is. Oh, deepest apologies for the rude awakening.  
Abberline: I suspect you enjoyed that.  
Godley: "I must be cruel only to be kind," as the poet said. Though I'd happily wallop you every time you chase the dragon. It's making you sick, you know that.  
_Abberline__ opens a report, but can't focus on it. He tosses it to Godley.  
_Abberline: What's in the report?  
Godley: Another bangtail murdered in George Yard last night. Cut up the way the Ripper did it.  
Abberline: (_distractedly_)… flowered petticoats …  
Godley: Yes, Inspector.  
Abberline: _(startled) What_? Not a green dress.  
Godley: How did you know that?  
Abberline: Let's see the body.  
--

The Morgue  
  
_Godley, Abberline, and the Police Surgeon stand before the body of a woman, covered with a white sheet_.  
Police Surgeon: Her name was Jane Carson, and if you'd caught this maniac the first time, Inspector, we wouldn't have to go through this degradation again.  
Godley: And sparing your stomach is our chief goal in life. Show him.  
Police Surgeon: You show him. I've already looked at the mess twice.  
_Police surgeon walks away.  
_Godley: _(taking a swig from a flask)_ After he cut her throat, he removed her livelihood as a keepsake.  
_Godley throws back the sheet covering the body, and looks away, drinking another swig._ _Abberline, unmoved, looks closely at the body.  
_Abberline: I can't tell if he took any of the other organs. Her uterus is there.  
Godley: I'll never understand how you can do that.  
_Abberline glances at Godley's flask as if to say to each his choice of numbing drug, then turns back to the body._  
Abberline: He was right-handed. He cut her throat from left to right.  
Godley: He could have cut either way with either hand.  
Abberline: You can only cut one way from behind.  
Godley: How do you know he took her from behind?


	2. Cemetery Scene

Cemetery

_Jane Carson's funeral.__ Other prostitutes are there, Bertha, Stella, Jennie, and Mary Kelly, as well as a few other mourners. Abberline and Godley approach._  
Godley: "Aye, to die and go we know not where. To lie in cold obstruction and to rot."  
Abberline: A simple "rest in peace" would suffice, Godley.  
Godley: Yes, sir.  
Minister: In the midst of life we are in death. Of whom may we seek for succor, but of Thee, oh Lord? Who, for our sins, are justly displeased. Yet, oh Lord, God, mercifully, oh Lord, most mighty . . .

_As they lower the wooden box into the earth, they drop it and the shock jars loose a plank. The people on the edges of the hole gasp as the corpse's pale face is revealed. Mary Kelly drops her flowers into the grave and turns away, quickly. Nearby a crow, reminder of scavengers, caws. The prostitutes leave the graveside and encounter Abberline and Godley._

Abberline: Good afternoon ladies. I'm Inspector Abberline, this is Sgt. Godley. We're investigating the murders of Jane Carson and Megan Briggs.  
Godley: Yes, we're looking for friends of theirs. We were rather hoping you ladies would be able to help us out.

_The prostitutes smirk at each other, giving both men appraising looks. Stella sashays forward and stops well inside Abberline's personal space._

Stella: I'll tell you anything you want to know, Inspector. Anywhere you want to know it.  
Abberline: (_unmoved_) What's your name?  
Stella: (_ponders_) Polly Nichols. I was real good friends with Jane. I could be real good friends with you. (_looks__ at Godley_) Or with your sergeant, here.  
_Stella leans in as if to kiss Abberline, and sniffs._  
Stella: Nice perfume, Inspector.  
_Stella slides over to Godley. Jennie and Bertha both sidle up to an unimpressed Abberline. _  
Godley:_ (holds out his hand to keep Stella at a distance) Now_, none of that. Can you tell us anything about Jane Carson or not?  
Stella: I don't know nothing. (_she__ leaves_)

_Jennie and Bertha work either side of Abberline, running their hands through his hair, and stroking his jacket.__ Abberline looks bored._

Abberline: What are your names?  
Bertha: I'm Kate Eddowes.  
Jennie: And I'm Annie Chapman.  
Abberline: I see. Did either of you see Jane Carson the night she was killed?  
Jennie: Who's Jane Carson?  
Bertha: Never heard of her.  
_Abberline__ removes Jennie's hand which had been stroking perilously low._  
Abberline: You've never heard of her, but you've come to her funeral. If you don't cooperate, we can't help you.  
Bertha: You can't help us anyway. (_she__ leaves_)

_Jennie makes one truly lascivious pass in front of Abberline, rubbing against him. Godley watches, amazed, but Abberline has no reaction._

Jennie: You're a cold one._ (leaves. Only Mary Kelly remains)_  
Abberline: You're Mary Kelly, isn't that right?  
Mary: I remember you, too, Inspector.  
_Mary steps up to stand as close to him as Stella did. Abberline looks uneasy._  
Mary: It was you figured out it wasn't me the Ripper killed.  
_She leans in, and, unlike his reaction to the other prostitutes, Abberline responds to her. He stiffens, gasps a little, and blinks. Godley looks even more amazed._  
Mary: You know, I wouldn't have minded everyone thinking I was dead. Maybe I could have made a fresh start.  
Abberline: Well, Mary Kelly, unless one of you is willing to talk to us about Jane Carson's friends, enemies, and general habits, I can't do nothing.  
Mary: Surely, Inspector, a strong handsome man like you. You could do anything you put your brilliant mind to.  
_The intimacy is too intense for Abberline. He steps back and takes a deep breath._

Mary: _(changing her tone)_ I'm a coward and a weakling and I can't help myself. What's your excuse? Why are you so bloody useless?

_Mary leaves. Godley and Abberline exchange slightly sheepish looks._

_------------_

Warren's Office

Abberline: I need to consult a doctor.  
Warren: Are you ill, Inspector?  
Abberline: Sir William Gull, to be exact.  
Warren: No.  
Abberline: Why not?  
Warren: Are you questioning my decision?  
Abberline: No sir. I'm just asking why not?  
Warren: Sir William has taken the previous business very badly. He won't see you.  
Abberline: I'm a police Inspector investigating a homicide.  
Warren: And he is physician ordinary to the Royal Family. Don't get above yourself, Inspector.  
Abberline: You could arrange it, sir. He's the only surgeon who knows these killings were not done by the Ripper. I need him to help me know where this killer's knowledge of Jack fails. How similar is his technique? Is he someone who assisted the Prince in his killings, or does he only know what was reported in the papers? Only Sir William can tell me this.  
Warren: No, I forbid it. You have the police surgeon at your service.  
Abberline: I need a man with a strong stomach and a sober mind. The police surgeon has neither.  
Warren: How sober is your own mind, Inspector? I said, I forbid it.

------------


	3. Alley Scene plus

_Abberline enters the Ten Bells and nods at Mary. The two of them go outside, into an alley._

Abberline: You don't have to worry about Nichols Street for at least a week. I can keep them that long.  
Mary: Well that's something, anyway. Thank you.  
Abberline: Yeah.  
Mary: What about Baby Alice? Are you sure she's all right?  
Abberline: Yeah. She's all right. We'll get her out after this is over.  
Mary: _We'll_ get her?  
Abberline: Listen, I want you and your friends off the streets until I can sort this thing out.  
Mary: Off the streets, for how long?  
Abberline: A few days at least.  
Mary: Well, you better throw us in jail then, 'cause we have no money for food and no money for a doss.  
Abberline: All right. You take this, buy some food, you get a room, stay there. Don't tell anyone where you're going. I don't want to know. In three days, come to the Ten Bells. I'll leave a message with the barkeep. _(Mary is touched.)_ What? It's not enough?  
Mary: I wish I could show you the little village where I was born. It's so lovely there. It's by the sea, the way you said you saw me. I used to think it too small to spend a life in, but now I'm not so sure. _(She starts to kiss him.)  
_Abberline: _(pulling away)_ Don't. Don't.  
Mary: What? Do you think I'm paying you back? I didn't mean it as business. _(She throws his money down.)_ I'm still a woman. They haven't taken that away from me, not yet anyways.  
Mary turns to go, and Abberline pushes her up against the wall and kisses her long.  
Policeman: _(Pounds the wall near them. They break apart.)_ Enough of that. Now, lad, at least take . . . _(Abberline comes out of shadow and the policeman recognizes him.)_ Sorry sir. _(leaves)  
_Abberline: Don't be angry with me, Mary, please.  
_He picks up the money and puts it in her hand, again. Mary looks uncertain._

Abberline's Office

_The wall is covered with photographs of the bodies, items recovered from the crime scenes and maps of __London__. Abberline is passed out in his chair, opium paraphernalia on the desk. He has a vision of the killer taking a red-haired woman from behind and slashing her throat. Blood gushes everywhere._

Godley's voice: Get up.

_Abberline opens his eyes to see Godley looming over the desk, hand poised to slap him_.

Abberline: _(weakly)_ Don't. I'm awake.  
Godley: I can't believe you're smoking it here. Commissioner will can you for sure.  
Abberline: _(reaching for a cloth in a washbasin) _The door was locked.  
Godley: I had a key made. I don't understand you. The Ripper is out there, murdering at will, and you can't stay sober for a few days?  
Abberline: _(after wiping his face with the wet cloth.)_ Sgt. Godley, take some constables and arrest every red-haired whore you can find in Whitechapel. Do it today. Get them off the streets before dark.  
Godley: Red-haired? Why?  
Abberline: His next victim will have red hair, and she'll die tonight.  
Godley: How can you know that? Wait . . . red hair like Mary Kelly? Frederick, old chum, no one is more delighted than I am that you have decided to renew your interest in the fairer sex, but a woman like that . . . _(Abberline gives him a look.)_ "A rose by any other name," is that it?Abberline: It'll be dark in a few hours. You don't have much time, Sergeant. Every red-haired whore.  
Godley: _(clearly saddened at Abberline's loss of sanity) _Yes, Inspector.

-------

Bishopsgate Orphanage

_Mary Kelly comes up the street. Abberline steps out in front of her. He's been waiting.  
_Mary: What?  
Abberline: I'm looking for you. I thought you'd come for Baby Alice.  
Mary: Well, aren't you bloody brilliant. And what if I did?  
Abberline: I told you to use the money to get yourself and your friends to safety.  
Mary: That's what I'm doing.  
Abberline: Mary, listen to me. Your friends are not in danger tonight, but you are. Leave Alice to later. I promise she'll be all right. But you . . . Mary, I want you to come to my house tonight. You'll be safe there.  
Mary: _(laughs) You_ know, Inspector, if you want my services, all you have to do is pay for them. You don't have to make up stories.  
Abberline: _(earnestly) I_ just want you off the street, Mary, where you'll be safe. The killer wants you tonight.  
Mary: _(pushing past him) _You can't know that.  
Abberline: They won't let you in. I told them not to admit you.  
Mary: _(angry)_ Easy to bar the door to an "unfortunate," isn't it.  
Abberline: 17 Hudson Street, Mary. If you don't come, they'll take you to jail.  
Mary: Well, thanks for the warning, Copper. I'll stay clear.

_Mary runs away. Abberline sags against the wall._

_-----_

Abberline's Home

_After dark.__ Abberline comes in, clearly disheartened. He is collecting absinthe, laudanum, and opium when there's a knock at the door. He opens it and Mary Kelly stands there._

Mary: Sorry about the neighbors. I waited 'til dark, anyway.  
Abberline: Come in!  
_He can only step aside so much, so she has to pass very close to him. They both avoid contact. Abberline shuts the door as Mary looks around, seeing the drugs._

Mary: You are an opium smoker. Stella said you were.  
Abberline: Which one was Stella?  
Mary: She said opium destroys a man's appetites, so she says you can't be seduced.  
Abberline: Take your coat?  
Mary: Sure.

_Mary unbuttons her coat and turns her shoulders toward him. Abberline takes her coat gingerly._

Abberline: I'm glad you came, Mary.  
Mary: So, is it true about your appetite? Or can I get some dinner?  
Abberline: _(looking around his place, startled)_ Dinner?

------------------

Nearby Pub

_Abberline looks ill, but Mary eats with gusto._

Mary: These people are your neighbors. I can't believe you want to bring me here.  
Abberline: I don't want to stay out very long.  
Mary: You're not eating, again.  
Abberline: Not hungry.  
Mary: _(pushing her plate away)_ Well, I'm not eating until you do. If you're going to be my protector, you have to keep up your strength. You don't look so well.  
Abberline: I'm all right.  
Mary: Prove it. Eat something. I mean it.

_Abberline makes an attempt to eat, but it's an effort. He appears to be getting sicker. Mary watches him for a moment, then starts back in on her own food._

Mary: What makes you say Jack wants me tonight?  
Abberline: Maybe you. Someone with red hair.  
Mary: How do you know?  
Abberline: If I tell you, you mustn't tell anyone else.  
Mary: All right.  
Abberline: I see the murders in visions.  
Mary: _(stops eating)_ Are you serious? Visions? You mean before they happen?

_Abberline nods, looking uneasy. Mary looks at his hand holding the fork. It is shaking. __Self-conscious, Abberline puts his hand down._

-----

Outside the Pub.

_Mary and Abberline emerge._

Mary: Thank you very much for the dinner, but I'm going to my lodgings, now.  
Abberline: Mary, no!  
Mary: It's all right. I got a room, like you said. My friends are there.  
Abberline: You don't believe me, about the visions.  
Mary: I'm sure you're very dedicated to your job and all, but I don't think you're well.  
Abberline: I'll be fine after . . . I've gone home. Mary you can't go. He'll find you somehow. I've seen it.  
Mary_: (leaving)_ Sorry.  
Abberline: How much for the night?  
Mary: _(She stops) _What?  
Abberline: I'll pay you to stay. All night. How much?

_Torn, Mary considers. She doesn't entirely trust Abberline, but she needs the money._

Mary: One bob.

_Abberline produces the money promptly and holds it out. Slowly, Mary approaches, studying him. Shaking and sweating, Abberline waits. Finally she takes it._

----------------------------

On the street where a woman lies dead

_Abberline approaches through the crowd, and Godley stiffens as Abberline nears. Abberline kneels beside the corpse. She has red hair. Abberline reaches out to feel her hair and a wig comes off in his hand._

Godley: A wig!  
Abberline: (_to himself, angry_) I didn't see that.  
Godley: _(suspiciously)_ What didn't you see, Inspector?  
Abberline: Nothing.

-----

Abberline's Office

_Abberline pins another photograph to his collection of items on the wall. Godley enters, closes the door, and turns the key._

Abberline: Sergeant?  
Godley: Inspector. We've been friends a long time, yeah?  
Abberline: What's this about, Peter?  
Godley: I have to ask you this. I want you to trust me and tell me the truth.  
Abberline: What?  
Godley: Where were you last night?  
Abberline: I was at home.  
Godley: Did anyone see you? Did you eat at the pub?  
Abberline: Yes, Officer, I ate at the pub. I imagine everyone will remember since I ate with a whore.  
Godley: _(surprised)_ You did?  
Abberline: I did. And she is my alibi for the whole night, so you don't need to ask.  
Godley: Thank Christ. Mary Kelly?  
Abberline: Is that all, Officer? May I go now?  
Godley: No. (_Godley holds up the key_.) Neither of us is leaving this room until you tell me how you knew.  
Abberline: _(sighing) Let's_ have your flask.

_Godley hands him his flask and they both sit down._


End file.
